I’m still on disability, but I don’t have the paranoia, grandiose god delusion as much, mind reading and thought broadcasting anymore. The TV and radio don’t talk to me anymore and I’m not in psychosis. I experienced positive symptoms for over 2 decades. I still have some unusual beliefs because of all I experienced.
I feel like it could all come back under stress. I still have the emptiness, depression, and thought disorganization. I guess I just have the negs and not the positives. Has the delusions ever gone away with the others on here? Do you still have sz even though it’s just the negative symptoms?
I’m glad your hitting a break from the head circus.
I’d say yes. When I was in the worst of my negative swing, I didn’t have really anything in the way of positive symptoms, but I was still not part of the living. I was still losing cognitive ability, I was losing my ability to talk, I was very slow in thinking, I was shutting down and sinking further into the rust brown nothingness in my head.
Sometimes I feel completely cured. I know I’m not… but I feel like I’m doing TOO well. But I know all I have to do is skip my meds for a day or two… and it will cue the circus music. It will all come back.
I was free of positive symptoms for over a year and a half before they came back for three weeks or so a few months ago. So I know while it may be in some sort of remission for me I do still have Sz…it’s just not currently bothering me.
It is possible for your symptoms to go into remission or sleep mode and still be afflicted with schizophrenia/SZA
My delusions and hallucinations have basically vanished, I am now questioning my antipsychotic usage.
But even at a pretty low dose of Risperdal - 2.5 mg I am not experiencing too many positive symptoms, except for some paranoia - anxiety - some on off depression. What is debilitating for me are the Negative symptoms, not really going away with the meds, although since I lowered my Risperdal dose some, it seems like I am more alert or ‘awake’
Sometimes I think that, too (that I don’t have sz anymore), but then the voices or intrusive thoughts come back to remind me I do have sz. But yes, I have mostly negative symptoms only, especially the lack of motivation and emptiness.
A woman giving a speech about her experiences with SZ (she had been in remission for over a decade) said that for her, being ‘cured’ didn’t mean she was totally free of the thoughts, voices or delusions but that these aspects of her illness had moved from being right in front of her face, figuratively speaking, to right at the back of her head. When they were right in front of her face, she coped poorly, the illness took over and she had little control. Now they were like whispers…still there, but easily ignored and controlled, for the most part. Sort of like the difference between having a mild, dull ache compared to a sharp, piercing one.
She very much changed the way I perceived people with SZ - I was a first year student at the time and had no idea that someone with SZ could not only appear so ‘typical’, but be such an engaging public speaker. We’re always exposed to the extremes in movies and the media but there are so many people out there who function well (or above and beyond just well) despite their illness.
It’s always positive symptoms too… When I think of how still and mute and withdrawn and nearly catatonic I was when I was fighting through negative symptoms… You never see that in the movies either…
For me it would be a movie about a person sitting very still not saying anything for a very long time… could you imagine a movie about a guy who doesn’t move, speak, or react? I’d like to see it in movies someday…
That doesn’t fit the bill… so no one really addresses the negative symptoms… the movies makes and media types all like to talk about the positive ones…
I can handle the positive ones… it is just like the lady said… for me… It’s muted… in the back… whispers behind the door that I can ignore. But sometimes that door opens and I have some very hard days.
For me… I’m afraid of wax build-up. negative symptoms for me feel like being buried alive or shut out in the cold. I’m more likely to become suicidal when I’m in a negative swing.
I can always tell when my ex is experiencing positive or negative symptoms based on how he is on Facebook lol
Positive = 20 posts a day, usually about how amazing he is or how amazing the world is…mostly interesting stuff.
Negative = no posts, disappearance from social media etc.
Me neither. I haven’t had symptoms for awhile. I’m not even having negative symptoms. The only thing right now is that I’m getting twitches so I stopped taking medication because I’m scared it will be permanent. It is kind of scaring me. It’s a really intrusive feeling.
I’ve lost most my auditory and visual hallucinations after being placed and then being taken off of Abilify. I’m currently on no medication for it, so you would think that I would be having a hard time. Other than delusions, like yesterday I thought my whole family had been kidnapped because nobody was home - they were at a football game- and when I brought it up they were like “so we took our cars with the kidnappers?” and i kind of realized how silly it was.
point being, I had just gotten off work so I was stressed out so yes I do think it’s possible for more symptoms to reemerge from stress.
